The present invention relates to a slender bottle which integrates aesthetic and functional features without clearly segregating such features from one another. More particularly, the present invention relates to a slender blow-molded plastic bottle which is useful in packaging a hot-filled beverage.
In the packaging of beverages, especially juice, blow-molded plastic containers made from, for instance, PET, are used in the so-called xe2x80x9chot-fillxe2x80x9d process in which containers are filled with a beverage at an elevated temperature. The hot-filled containers are promptly sealed and are permitted to cool resulting in internal pressure and temperature changes that reduce the volume of the sealed container.
It is known to provide hot-fillable containers with a series of well-defined, spaced-apart vacuum flex panels to compensate for the internal volume reduction. The vacuum flex panels provide a sufficient amount of flexure without adversely affecting the structural integrity and aesthetic appearance of the hot-filled container. The adjacent portions of the container, such as the so-called lands, or columns, which are located between, above, and below the flex panels, are intended to resist any deformations which would otherwise be caused by hot-fill processing. Wall thickness variations, or geometric structures, such as ribs, projections and the like, can be utilized to prevent unwanted distortion. Generally, the typical hot-fillable container structure is provided with certain pre-defined areas which flex to accommodate volumetric changes and certain other pre-defined areas which remain unchanged.
An example of a hot-fillable container having a plurality of flex-panels is illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. No. D.366,416 which is owned by the assignee of the present application. The hot-fill bottle has well-defined flex panels which are distinctly visually apparent prior to filling and which accommodate vacuum induced distortions after filling, capping and cooling. The container also has other geometric structures which are completely segregated from the flex panels, which are distinctly visually apparent prior to filling, and which resist structural change caused by volume reduction. Typically, all of these structures are framed about their entire peripheries and are completely separated from the bottle""s aesthetic features which are usually limited to the dome of the container. For example, flex panels are often indented from adjacent vertically disposed lands and from circumferential upper and lower label mount regions. Conventionally, the indented panels merge into the adjacent lands via various stepped-shaped walls, grooves, projections or like structures.
Other examples of container sidewalls having flexible panels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,092 issued to Sugiura et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,178 issued to Welker III; U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,855 issued to Agrawal et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,934 issued to Brady; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,504 issued to Bueno. The Sugiura, Welker and Agrawal patents disclose inwardly deflecting vacuum flex panels which are located between substantially planar lands; the Bueno patent discloses inwardly deflecting panels which are located between spiral-shaped grooves; and the Brady patent discloses outwardly deflecting panels which intersect at vertically disposed corners.
Although various ones of the above referenced containers may function satisfactorily for their intended purposes, there is a need for a hot-fillable blow molded bottle which integrates functional and aesthetic components in such a manner as to provide a package having enhanced visual interest. Such a package is particularly desirable in single-serve sizes wherein slenderness and single-handed gripability are desirable features.
With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a hot-fillable bottle which integrates vacuum absorption, structural reinforcement, and other functional features with aesthetic and ergonomic properties by providing various interactive functional zones in the container structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottle having a plurality of alternating non-framed flex panels and non-framed lands, or columns, which laterally merge together directly and which are jointly reactive to hot-fill process forces acting thereon.
A further object is to provide a blow-molded, plastic, slender bottle having a grip structure which both enhances the structural integrity of the container and the visual appearance of the container.
More specifically, the present invention provides a blow-molded plastic container having a neck with an upstanding threaded finish, a close-ended base, and a tubular sidewall located between the base and the neck. The sidewall includes, in an alternating pattern, a plurality of circumferentially-spaced, vertically-elongate columns and a plurality of circumferentially-spaced substantially smooth-surfaced panels. Each of the columns, as formed, is outwardly convex in horizontal cross section, and each of the panels, as formed, is inwardly concave in horizontal cross section such that each of the panels extends laterally between and directly connects to an adjacent pair of the columns. In addition, each of the columns, as formed, is outwardly convex in vertical cross-section, and each of the panels, as formed, is inwardly concave in vertical cross section such that each of the columns and panels have opposite ends which merge directly into adjacent portions of the container.
Functionally, each of the panels flexes outwardly to expand the volume of the container during hot-filling, and each of the panels flexes inwardly in response to a reduction in internal volume when the container is capped and permitted to cool. The inward deflection of the panels interactively increases the horizontal cross-sectional convexity of each column and decreases the vertical cross-sectional convexity of each column. The vertical straightening of each column and the lateral pinching of each column combine to structurally strengthen the container.
The aforedescribed structure is particularly suited for slender, single-serve size bottles.
In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of vertically-aligned finger alignment projections are formed integrally on each of the columns to define finger grip locations, to structurally reinforce the columns, and to provide points of visual interest.